NextGen World Progression

['Press Start']

You can't hover or fly or run up the side of buildings in crackdown, crackdown was more about jumping really high and climbing, the great thing about crackdown was working out the building puzzles and how to get up them, you where more a super cop than a super hero in the traditional sense. second son dose feel fresh, and it makes you feel super powerful and dose it in a really nice environment that lets you cause massive amounts of mayhem.

All done in Saints Row 4 mate. Even running up buildings which is not shown in this vid but you can find it on youtube if you want.

[Lebowski]

is that a crash test dummy! not played SR4 but that vid dosent look that appealing, yup some of the powers are the same but its very underpopulated and bland looking game world, whats the use of powers if theirs nothing to do in the game world.

I suppose this gen games like this are starting to feel like open worlds as we have the power to run them, and where already seeing that early on. Dead rising 3 has a massive populated and details world like nothing seen before and likewise, so dose second son.

[capcom_suicide]

All done in Saints Row 4 mate. Even running up buildings which is not shown in this vid but you can find it on youtube if you want.

This doesn't look close to as much fun as second son though! But yeah it does show the concept had been tried before, albeit far less successfully. Hopefully next gen will at least offer evolution if not revolution.

[QualityChimp]

This doesn't look close to as much fun as second son though! But yeah it does show the concept had been tried before, albeit far less successfully. Hopefully next gen will at least offer evolution if not revolution.

I just did a quick scan of Metacritic's list of reviews and highlighting "fun", word pops up in the majority of the summaries, so I'd guess it is good fun...

[originalbadboy]

An 'Open World' game is something that has been done for quite a while though .. As suggested previously what we need is a game without any 'perceivable' limits ... In other words if you see a building you should be able to enter it. If you cause mayhem then that mayhem should still be there ten minutes later if you have gone to the other side of the map and come back again.

To a certain degree we have had those features in something like Skyrim, however it has always come at a cost, in the PS3 case for example at the cost of stability and save game corruption.

What's next will be games that do a lot more procedural stuff on the fly, For example if you look at what Elite Dangorous will be doing once you can land on planets etc and have a full universe without loading screens. (There are other examples already in other projects / games). That is something the previous gen machines would struggle to do, and with offloading some of it to the 'Cloud' even better.

[nakamura]

Open world is not the answer. Interactivity and choice is.

[originalbadboy]

Open world is not the answer. Interactivity and choice is.

I would think they go hand in hand most of the time.

['Press Start']

is that a crash test dummy! not played SR4 but that vid dosent look that appealing, yup some of the powers are the same but its very underpopulated and bland looking game world, whats the use of powers if theirs nothing to do in the game world.

It is a world with nearly the same level of interactivity as Second Son, that is the point. Plus Saints Row is like GTA, unless you are doing missions you just mess around really. As Quality Chimp said (and most review say), it is great fun, especially in co-op.

Regardless of how many bodies are on the screen or how amazing the light is shining in the puddle that does not reflect your character you still have the same level of world interaction. Which is exactly why I sit in the disinterested in camp.......at the moment.

['Press Start']

What's next will be games that do a lot more procedural stuff on the fly, For example if you look at what Elite Dangorous will be doing once you can land on planets etc and have a full universe without loading screens. (There are other examples already in other projects / games). That is something the previous gen machines would struggle to do, and with offloading some of it to the 'Cloud' even better.

The golden egg right there! To walk into a ship, to the cock pit, fly it out the hanger, fly it through the clouds into the stars, past moons, to another planet and through its atmosphere, land it on a remote mountain top, walk into the ships cargo bay and choose your load out, walk out the ship and explore the mountain.

[Brad]

I see your point re: the SRIV comparison. I think the difference though, and what makes inFamous feel like (at least the beginnings of anyway) next gen is that comparatively speaking SRIV looks like total arse in the graphics department. inFamous is giving us the open world and interactivity of the GTAs and Saints Rows but it does it with such amazing detail, lighting and draw distance. I'm not used to being given all those things. I loved Crackdown and that came out a long time ago but that doesn't stop me from enjoying this and feeling it's a fresh game.

[capcom_suicide]

I see your point re: the SRIV comparison. I think the difference though, and what makes inFamous feel like (at least the beginnings of anyway) next gen is that comparatively speaking SRIV looks like total arse in the graphics department. inFamous is giving us the open world and interactivity of the GTAs and Saints Rows but it does it with such amazing detail, lighting and draw distance. I'm not used to being given all those things. I loved Crackdown and that came out a long time ago but that doesn't stop me from enjoying this and feeling it's a fresh game.

Yep. In a similar vein, I enjoyed Halo3, and that didn't stop me form enjoying Halo4, which for my money had many very many improvements visually, whilst building on the same play mechanics. I didn't not play Halo4 because it was the same type of game as Halo3. So next gen can improve things incrementally for me that's fine.

['Press Start']

I completely understand both your points. Res Evil 1 remake on Gamecube felt like a new game compared to the PS1 version purely because of the graphical leap.

I guess what I am hoping for will be coming post E3.....hopefully.

Edit: Sorry forgot to just say that is a fair point RE Halo 3/4. Although you did not need to invest in new hardware for that incremental improvement.

[capcom_suicide]

I also think that it's fair that you expect big things for a new generation. Typically though we need to wait mid-cycle to see the good stuff. Just compare perfect dark zero with halo4! Mind you N64 with Mario64 on Jap import.... Man.... That was NEXT GEN! The technology was important, but Nintendo innovated the controller and 3d hardware to provide an incredible new experience. I don't think we need to be sorry that we want the same leap today, it's just that it's still ok to enjoy the games as they stand

[Asura]

The golden egg right there! To walk into a ship, to the cock pit, fly it out the hanger, fly it through the clouds into the stars, past moons, to another planet and through its atmosphere, land it on a remote mountain top, walk into the ships cargo bay and choose your load out, walk out the ship and explore the mountain.

True. However, that kind of interactivity comes at a cost.

The recent X game, by Egosoft, was panned by the critics for being a bit **** (and it looks like it genuinely was quite poor), but one of the biggest complaints people had was how when docking with a station, you had to find the right docking port, then walk into the station, then find the right trader, then use the interface to talk to them, then walk back to your ship, get on board and launch, whereas prior X games had you dock at one port, then do all this with a menu.

Conversely, this kind of immersion was the game's main selling point, and some people loved that you had to do this.

Mitchell & Webb used a phrase in one of their sketches that summed this up quite nicely: "You never see someone go for a piss in Star Wars".

There are similarities between Shenmue, Beyond Good & Evil and Assassin's Creed, but notice that having a "bedtime" and a "daily routine" didn't persist much. Very few games have done these things because the market buys 20 bajillion quazillion copies of Call of Duty, a title which has always prided itself on its tightly focused, linear nature.

With us having more RAM, and more powerful machines, you will see games with the kind of immersion you want - just don't expect that to become the norm.

Computers will get more powerful, but some people's idea of a good time will still be a lego set with infinite pieces, others will like a treasure trail where they collect shiny things, some will want to bash other people's heads in and others still prefer a linear rollercoaster.

[originalbadboy]

True. However, that kind of interactivity comes at a cost.

The recent X game, by Egosoft, was panned by the critics for being a bit **** (and it looks like it genuinely was quite poor), but one of the biggest complaints people had was how when docking with a station, you had to find the right docking port, then walk into the station, then find the right trader, then use the interface to talk to them, then walk back to your ship, get on board and launch, whereas prior X games had you dock at one port, then do all this with a menu.

Conversely, this kind of immersion was the game's main selling point, and some people loved that you had to do this.

Mitchell & Webb used a phrase in one of their sketches that summed this up quite nicely: "You never see someone go for a piss in Star Wars".

There are similarities between Shenmue, Beyond Good & Evil and Assassin's Creed, but notice that having a "bedtime" and a "daily routine" didn't persist much. Very few games have done these things because the market buys 20 bajillion quazillion copies of Call of Duty, a title which has always prided itself on its tightly focused, linear nature.

With us having more RAM, and more powerful machines, you will see games with the kind of immersion you want - just don't expect that to become the norm.

Computers will get more powerful, but some people's idea of a good time will still be a lego set with infinite pieces, others will like a treasure trail where they collect shiny things, some will want to bash other people's heads in and others still prefer a linear rollercoaster.

Don't get me wrong I love 'pick up and play' games as much as the next person ... TitanFall is a perfect example of that, which for me is quickly becoming the next 'Quake'. But I also think that the sort of game described above also has a place in the world.

I am currently an Elite Dangerous Alpha subscriber, and there are some on the Alpha forums who would want to see Elite simplifed to the point where they don't even have to do anything. Just basically hold a button down and not worry about it. Docking is a perfect example of that. The issue is that completely ruins the point of playing a game like that.

I don't want to sound like an old fart, but in the end games are designed to be a lot more simple these days, and those are the types of games that attract the masses. And it does sicken me sometimes that some people just don't want to do anything other than shooting another virtual person in the face, that's the limit of their gaming 'intellect'.